“She did…?” She put me through all that misery just to come clean about it?
He nodded. “You’ll never see her again. She’s gone.”
“Really?” I whispered, tears springing to my eyes.
“Yeah. And I apologize in advance for this…I didn’t want to ask you this in a run-down hotel in Manhattan, but since you already know…” He pulled the ring from his pocket and slipped it on my left ring finger. “Please say yes. I don’t want anything to come between us again. I’ve already lost you twice, and I can’t do it again.”
I eyed the beautiful ring with a red stone in the middle with tears in my eyes. It was unlike any other ring I’d ever seen. Without question, I knew it was special. I knew it wasn’t a ring he simply picked up at the store.
“It was my mother’s,” he explained. “And my grandmother’s before that…”
“I’m so honored.”
“Then do me the honor of saying yes.” He grabbed my wrist and placed his hand over my chest. “Say yes.”
“Yes.” A new wave of tears spilled down my face. “Yes.”
He cupped my face and kissed me like he never had before. A combination of hard and soft, his lips moved with mine with desperation. He slowly backed me farther into the room, his fingers sliding into my hair then down my shoulders. My tears stuck to his cheeks, but that didn’t slow him down. He wiped one drop away with the pad of his thumb before he broke the kiss. “You wanna spend the night here or head back home?”
New York wasn’t home to me. This hotel was just a room stuffed with my misery. Scotland was the only place I wanted to be, the home away from home that became permanent. I wanted to be exactly where I belonged—not stuck here for a minute longer. “Let’s go home.”
It was nice to be home again.
I’d only been gone for a week, but it felt like a lifetime. Misery was suffocating, a blanket of sadness that nearly smothered me. I couldn’t do anything but exist. I wasn’t sure when I would have finally left that hotel room and found an apartment and a job. Probably a while.
My belongings were returned to the room I shared with Crewe, but now that we planned to spend our lives together, everything felt different—in a good way. I loved my ring, and it made me feel special knowing his mother had worn it as well.
Crewe didn’t go to work like he normally would have. He took time off to be with me, to make up for the time we lost. It was only a week, but for both of us, it felt like an eternity. There wasn’t much talking involved, just a lot of sex.
He didn’t mention Ariel.
I didn’t either.
We managed to stay in bed all day, having our meals left by the door while we were wrapped up in the sheets. The only time we left was to eat and shower. The rest of the time, our naked bodies were wrapped together.
Crewe placed my left hand on his chest and ran his finger over the red ruby in the center of my engagement ring. “It looks great on you.”
“I think we go pretty well together, actually.”
“You’re right.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of my knuckles. “So, when do you want to get married?”
“I don’t care. Don’t you have to have a royal ceremony and all that stuff?”
He shrugged. “I’m supposed to. I probably should…but I don’t want to.”
“What would you like to do?”
“Something with just the two of us. Maybe a few witnesses.”
“Like on Fair Isle?” I asked with a smile.
He smiled back. “That sounds perfect, actually. It’ll be a little cold, but if the sun is out, it’ll be beautiful.”
“That sounds nice to me. Maybe we could have our own ceremony then do the big royal thing later?”
“That sounds fair. Let’s do that.”
“Perfect.” I cuddled into his side and wrapped my arm around his waist. “You sure you want to marry a peasant?”
“Absolutely.”
“That means I’ll be a duchess?”
“Yep.”
“That’s kinda weird…”
“Not really. All you have to do is look pretty. It’s the easiest job in the world.”
“You’re oversimplifying it.”
“Oh, and fuck your husband every chance you get. Forgot that one.”
I pressed a kiss to his chest. “That doesn’t sound so bad. I’d do that even if he weren’t my husband.”
“Good answer.”
As much as I enjoyed him spending time with me, I knew he couldn’t neglect his business forever, especially since Ariel was no longer around to help him with anything. “Are you sure you don’t need to get back to work?”
“Trying to get rid of me already?” he asked with a smile.
“No. I just don’t want to make your life more complicated.”
“Maybe I like complicated. I did ask you to marry me.”
“Hey.” I gave him a playful slap.
“You should let Joseph know what’s going on. I’m sure he’s curious.”
“Why would he be curious?” Last time he knew, I was in New York. My phone was in my bag somewhere because I forgot about it the second Crewe whisked me into his arms. The battery probably had died by now.
“Well…he called me and told me why you left.”
“He did?” My natural response was to be furious, but seeing how things worked out, I guess it didn’t matter.
“Ariel was in the process of telling me herself, so I would have found out anyway. He’d probably like to know you’re here.”
It was a sweet thing for Joseph to do, considering the fact that he didn’t like Crewe. I guess that was the best blessing I was going to get. “I’ll call him later.”
Crewe sat up in bed and looked at the clock. “I should probably get in the shower. Unless you’d like to join me?”
I loved to see that hot and naked body under the warm water any day. “I would, but I should probably call my brother.”
“You can always take a peek some other time.” He winked then fished his phone out of his pocket. He tossed it on the bed beside me before he walked into the bathroom.
When I called Joseph, I barely heard it ring once before he answered. “Crewe?”
“Actually, it’s me.”
“London?” he asked excitedly. “Looks like my message went a long way. I called you a few times, but it kept going straight to voice mail. I assumed you just didn’t feel like talking.”
“No, my phone died. Crewe and I have been busy…”
Joseph ignored the awkward thing I’d just said. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy again. I almost didn’t say anything, but I’m grateful I did. You’re probably pissed at me, but I don’t care.”
“Actually, Ariel was in the process of telling him when you called, so I can’t be mad.”
“She told him?” he asked in surprise. “So the bitch has a heart, after all…”
“Or some form of one.”
“Crewe fired her?”
“Yeah. I haven’t heard anything about her.”
“Good. She got what’s coming to her.”
I eyed my beautiful engagement ring, pregnant with ancient history. Duchesses had worn it before me. Even the Queen of Scotland probably wore it centuries ago. “So…Crewe asked me to marry him.”
“He did?” Joseph blurted. “Oh, shit. Did you say yes?”
“What do you think I said, dumbass? No?”